Pole framing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An automatic machine for performing framing operations on a power pole. The machine is controlled by a programmable logic control and interchangeable programs are provided to control the operation of the machine according to a pole frame specification. Poles to be framed are received on a primary conveyor. The poles are sequentially scanned for length and position and are transferred in sequence to a longitudinal feed station where the poles are oriented on a first set of supports. An end of the pole is clamped to a movable carriage to maintain the pole orientation. The pole is fed through a rotatable tool ring by movement of the carriage. The tool ring supports tooling to perform the framing operation on the pole. The programmable logic control coordinates the movement of the carriage and the rotation of the tool ring to position the tools in the proper relation to the pole. Self centering supports are provided to center the longitudinal axis of the pole on the rotational axis of the tool ring. The programmable logic control operates the tools of the tool ring to perform all the operations required in framing the pole to its specification. An additional tool ring is provided adjacent the first tool ring for supporting drilling tools for ground line drilling the base of the pole to enhance subsequent treatment of the pole with a wood preservative.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to power pole framing and more particularly to anapparatus that shapes a pole in preparation for attachment thereto of across arm or mast, various types of electrical boxes and further theprovision of ground line drilling and roofing for the pole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wood power poles are commonly used for supporting power lines. Manythousands of wood power line poles crisscross the country andinterconnect electrical power sources with users of electrical power.The process of installing power poles is costly and the poles aretreated with preservatives to retard deterioration of the wood as occurswhen exposed to all kinds of weather conditions including rotting whichrapidly occurs to the portion of the pole that is embedded in theground.

A power pole is typically provided with a cross arm or mast suitablybraced for carrying multiple power lines in spaced parallel relation.Also, electrical boxes, cable television boxes, transformers and thelike are often attached to the pole. All of these various paraphernaliarequire that holes and/or flat spots be provided on the pole. Also, thepoles installed along a designated stretch are cut to the same lengthand are provided with "roofs" that are all placed in alignment wheninstalled. Often holes are drilled in the lower end portion of the poleto be embedded underground to enhance treating the pole with a woodpreservative to extend the life of the pole.

All such flats, roofs, holes, and other shaping of the pole is referredto as framing. The framing precedes treatment, e.g., with a woodpreservative so that all exposed surface areas of the pole are treated.As will be appreciated, the various shapes provided on the pole must beprecisely located, e.g., relative to the roof tops so that with the rooftops aligned, the various flats, holes, etc. are properly located on thepole. Still further, poles are often not precisely straight, i.e., theymay have a slight bow of several inches over a hundred foot length.

Prior to this invention pole framing has been primarily accomplishedmanually. A pair of spaced apart elongated supports were provided tosupport the posts at each end. These supports allowed the post to rollso that the bow of the pole drapes down. Thus, the framer knew that thetop side of the laterally supported pole would be the front side of thepole when installed. The framer thus simply proceeded to measure and cutor plane or drill as needed to frame the pole.

The process of framing is tedious, time consuming and expensive, and isone of the major cost components of a pole made ready for installationas a power pole. It is understood that one attempt was made to automatethe framing procedure. A pole was mounted on supports and a motorizedtool carrier traveled along the pole length and in the process performedthe shaping operations. It saved little in cost of framing and was shortlived. Nothing more about this attempt at automation is known.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to automate the framingprocess. The basic premise of the invention is the provision of twocoordinated operations. The first is the provision of a motor operatedrotatable tool ring equipped with the appropriate power operated toolsfor shaping or framing a pole. The second is the provision of amotorized pole feeder that feeds the properly oriented pole through thetool ring. The two operations are coordinated through a motor controldevice, e.g., a PLC (Programmable Logic Control).

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a lateral conveyorfor feeding the poles laterally to a "stop and feeder" which places thepoles sequentially onto a lengthwise feeder. Located relative to thelateral conveyor is a primary scanner that scans the pole for length anddetermines that the pole is the required length. (Typically the systemwill be set for a desired framing shape for a specific length of pole.The primary scanner merely confirms for the PLC that the pole is theright length.) The primary scanner also determines the position of thelower end of the pole.

The lengthwise conveyor includes a front and rear vee support (the legsof the vee support formed by idler rollers). The front vee support islaterally retractable and the rear vee support is mounted on a carrier(carriage) that also carries a pole clamp located rearwardly of the rearvee support. The pole is deposited onto the front and rear vee supportswhich allows the pole to roll to the position with the front side(concave side) facing up. The pole clamp then clamps the rear end of thepole to prevent turning during the succeeding feeding operation.

Spaced forwardly of the front vee support is the tool holder ring.Positioned in front of and at the rear of the tool holder ring are selfcentering vee supports (opposing vee clamps). The opposed upper andlower vee of each centering vee support opens and closes together sothat the center of the centering vee supports are always on the axis ofthe tool ring. Thus, when a pole is clamped by the front and rearcentering vee supports, the section of the pole located in the tool ringis on the tool ring axis.

The pole supported on the centering vee supports is moved lengthwise bymovement of the carriage toward the tool holder ring. A secondaryscanner forward of the front vee and prior to the tool holder ringestablishes the precise length of the pole (the PLC knows the positionof the rear end clamp and it detects the leading end of the pole via thescanner). When the pole is moved into and centered in the firstcentering vee, the front support vee is retracted. The pole is movedinto the tool holder ring and the PLC stops the carriage and thus thepole at the desired position. The tool holder ring is rotated to thedesired position and the pole is cut to length and in the process the"roof" of the pole is formed. Subsequent operations include theintermittent feeding of the pole, the rotation of the ring, and theoperation of the various tools to provide the desired framing of thepole.

The operation of ground line drilling may preferably require a secondarytool ring which would be positioned adjacent the multiple tool holderring described above. In any event, the pole is stepped through the toolholder ring or rings until the framing of the pole is completed. A tiltpan receives the pole length as it exits the tool ring or rings and whenthe full length of the pole is received onto the tilt pan, the tilt pantilts the framed pole onto skids that retain the poles until ready fortransfer such as to a wood preserving treatment station.

Refer now to the drawings and the detailed description for a completeunderstanding of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of an automatic pole framing machineof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the framing machine of the present invention asviewed on view lines 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the front vee support of the framingmachine of the present invention as viewed generally on view lines 3--3of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is block diagram of a programmable logic control of the machineof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view of a pole framed on the machine of the presentinvention; and,

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing is an alternateembodiment of the machine of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Refer now to FIG. 1 of the drawings which schematically illustrates apole framing machine 10 of the present invention. The machine 10 isarranged to perform all operations necessary in the framing of a pole.Pole framing refers to the operations of drilling holes, milling orotherwise forming flats, shaping a roof structure, cutting the pole tolength and other operations to prepare a pole for its intended use. Thepole is framed to facilitate mounting mast heads or cross members,bracing members, ancillary equipment such as transformers, switch gearand other items. In addition the pole is drilled to facilitate treatingthe end of the pole that will be inserted into the ground with a woodpreservative. The operation of the machine 10 is controlled by aprogrammable logic control 80 (PLC). The PLC may also be referred to asa computer.

The machine 10 has a lateral conveyor 12 driven by a suitable motor forreceiving poles 14 to be framed. The conveyor 12 has carriers such aschains 16 for laterally feeding the poles 14 to a longitudinal feedstation, generally indicated by the numeral 21. The longitudinal feedstation 21 is adjacent the exit end of the conveyor 12 and is arrangedto feed the pole 14 lengthwise (longitudinally) into and through arotatable tool ring 50. A powered stop and feeder mechanism 18 isprovided on the conveyor 12 to ensure that one pole at a time istransferred to the longitudinal feed station 21. A preliminary scanner20 is provided on the conveyor 12 for scanning the pole 14 for lengthand to determine the position of the lower end 22 of the pole 14. Thelongitudinal feed station 21 includes a carriage 30 movably mounted ontracks 32 provided adjacent the exit end of the conveyor 12 and thecarriage 30 is movable in the directions indicated by arrow 34 by asuitable motorized arrangement. Mounted on the movable carriage 30 is avee support 36 and a pole clamp 38. Another vee support 40 is providedthat is alignable with the vee support 36 with the vee support 40 beingpositioned near an operator's station 42. The vee support 40 is movablyretractable out of the travel path of the movable carriage 30 by asuitable motor. The operator's station 42 is positioned substantially asshown and includes operators controls 44 for operating the machine 10. Asecondary scanner 46 is provided to scan the pole 14 received in thelongitudinal feed station 21 to determine the exact length of the pole14. A rotatable tool ring 50 is provided in alignment with the travelpath of the carriage 30. The rotating tool ring 50 supports andpositions the tooling necessary in the framing of the pole 14. Thetooling includes, but is not limited to, saws, drill spindles, router,planing and shaping spindles, suitable mechanism for stamping orattaching identification logo and the like. The tool ring 50 isrotatable about its axis of rotation 52 by a suitable motorized drivearrangement.

Self centering devices (supports) 54, 55 (see FIG. 2) having an uppervee support 56 and a lower vee support 58 are provided on each side ofthe rotating tool ring 50. The upper support 56 and the lower support 58are opposed to each other and are coordinated to be movable toward andaway from each other such that the midpoint between the upper support 56and the lower support 58 is at all times coincident with the rotationalaxis 52 of the tool ring 50. The upper support 56 and the lower support58 have rollers 60 mounted on their legs 62 to facilitate moving thepole 14 through the supports 54, 55 which will later be explained. Atilt pan 66 is provided that is aligned with the tool ring 50 and thecarriage 30. The tilt pan 66 will receive poles 14 as they are fedthrough the tool ring 50. The tilt pan 66 is tiltable in a known mannerto eject the poles 14 onto receiving skids 70.

Operation

The machine 10 is controlled by a PLC 80 in conjunction with theoperator's controls 44. The PLC 80 is programmable to handle all of thenecessary operations of the machine 10 to perform the desired framingconfiguration of poles 14. As illustrated in the block diagram of FIG.4, the PLC 80 is interconnected to the operator's control 44 and thecontrollable components of the machine 10. The PLC 80 controls theconveyor 12 to feed the poles 14 laterally to the stop and feedermechanism 18. The preliminary (primary) scanner 20 inputs scan data tothe PLC 80 as to the length and the position of the lower end 22 of thepole 14. The carriage 30 is positioned to receive the lower end 22 ofthe poles in supporting vee 36 with end clamp rearwardly of end 22.

The PLC 80 operates the stop and feed mechanism 18 to transfer one pole14 at a time to the longitudinal feed station 21. The PLC 80 controlsthe movement of the carriage 30 and operation of the pole clamp 38. Thepole clamp 38 is initially moved into clamping engagement with the poleend 22. The secondary scanner 46 inputs scan data to the PLC 80 as tothe exact length of the pole 14 determined relative to the position ofthe end clamp 38. The PLC controls the front and rear self centeringsupports (clamps) 54, 55 and controls the retraction and extension ofthe movable vee support 40. The functions are performed as the pole ismoved by carriage 30. The PLC further coordinates the carriage movementwith rotation of the tool ring 50 to position a tool member in theproper relation to the pole 14 to perform a programmed operation.

As one operation is completed, the PLC will advance the carriage 30 tothus advance the pole 14 to the next desired location and will rotatethe tool ring (if necessary) to present the required tool to perform thenext operation. Upon completion of the framing operation, the pole willbe received on the tilt pan 66 and the PLC 80 will tilt the tilt pan 66to discharge the pole 14 onto the skids 70. The operator's control 44provides manual operation of the components of the machine 10. Theoperator may for example rotate the tool ring 50 to any desired positionto facilitate changing tools or tooling, position the carriage 30 to adesired position, extend or retract the vee support 40, open or closethe self centering supports 54, 55 and so forth.

The step-by-step operation as performed by the machine will now bedescribed. Poles 14 are placed or deposited on the lateral conveyor 12with the upper end 26 of the pole 14 being positioned in close proximityto the side 13 of the conveyor 12. The end 26 of the pole 14 ispositioned so that as the pole 14 is transferred to the longitudinalfeed station 21 by the stop and feeder mechanism 18, the end portion,generally designated by the numeral 28, of the pole 14 will be receivedon the vee support 40. FIG. 1 illustrates two poles 14 having a greatvariation in length. This is to illustrate the capability of the machine10. In actual practice, it is preferable to batch frame multiple poles,i.e., poles having near the same length to be similarly configured forefficiency of processing, handling, storage and inventory control.

As the pole 14 is being conveyed laterally by the conveyor 12 toultimately reside on the stop and feeder mechanism 18, the preliminaryscanner 20 will scan the pole 14 for length and will determine theposition of the lower end 22 of the pole 14. The scanned informationfrom the scanner 20 is input to the PLC 80 and the PLC 80 will positionthe carriage 30 based on the position of the lower end 22 of the pole 14and will extend the retractable vee support 40 to a position ofalignment with the vee support 36. (See FIG. 3) The carriage 30 ispositioned so that the lower end portion (base) of the pole 14,generally designated by numeral 24, of the pole 14 will be received onthe vee support 36 of the carriage 30 when the pole 14 is transferred tothe longitudinal feed station 21 by the stop and feeder mechanism 18.The carriage is positioned such that the clamp 38 on the carriage 30will be strategically positioned relative to the lower end 22 of thepole 14 when the pole 14 is transferred to the vee supports 36 and 40 ofthe longitudinal feed station 21. When the carriage 30 is properlypositioned, the PLC 80 will operate the stop and feeder mechanism 18 totransfer a pole 14 onto the vee support 36 of the carriage 30 and thevee support 40 positioned near the side 13 of the conveyor 12.

Poles are rarely straight and most have some curvature along theirlongitudinal length. The pole 14 when placed on the vee supports 36 and40 will, if the curvature of the pole is not already downwardlydirected, rotate or roll by the action of gravity to orient the pole 14with the curvature of the pole downward. The pole 14 thus oriented isready to be clamped by the pole clamp 38. The pole clamp 38 ispreferably of the type that is self centering and will clamp the end 22of the pole 14 with the longitudinal axis of the pole being aligned withthe rotational axis of the tool ring 50. The clamp 38 will maintain thepole 14 in its oriented position (curvature down) and will preventrotation of the pole during the framing process. However, there may beoccasions where a slight rotative reorientation of the pole is desired,e.g., where the operator wishes to work around a defect. To accommodatesuch occurrences, the pole clamp 38 is rotatable, e.g., ±15° to allowthe operator to shift the orientation of the pole as indicated by arrows39 in FIG. 6.

The pole 14 is moved toward the tool ring 50 by movement of the carriage30. The pole 14 is scanned by the secondary scanner 46 to determine theexact length of the pole 14. The position of the carriage 30 and thusthe position of the end 22 (in the clamp 38) of the pole 14 is known bythe PLC 80 and the scan data from the scanner 46 will determine theexact length of pole 14. As the pole is fed into the tool ring 50 thelower support 58 of the first set of self centering vee supports 54 willengage the end portion 28 of the pole 14. The first set of vee supports54 will be closed to center the end portion 28 of the pole 14 on therotational axis 52 of the tool ring 50. The vee support 40 is thenretracted out of the travel path of the movable carriage 30. The PLC 80will feed the carriage 30 to position the end 26 of the pole 14strategic to a saw of the tool ring 50. The PLC 80 will then rotate thetool ring, if necessary, to position the saw in the preferredarrangement and the saw will cut the pole 14 to the desired length andin the process will form a roof 90 on the end of the pole 14 as shown inFIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates a pole 14 that has been framed to one specification.It will be appreciated that the requirements for individual poles mayvary and the illustration is provided for example only. It is not theintent to cover all of the variations encountered in the framing ofpoles but the example is given to provide an understanding of thepossibilities afforded by the pole framing machine of the presentinvention.

The carriage 30 is fed further which moves the pole 14 through the toolring where the newly formed end 26 is engaged by the second set of selfcentering supports 55. The two sets of supports 54, 55 in combinationwill maintain the longitudinal axis of the pole basically coincidentwith the rotational axis 52 of the tool ring 50. The rollers 60 of thesupports 54, 55 enable moving the pole 14 longitudinally withoutreleasing the pressure of the supports 54, 55.

The PLC 80 moves the carriage 30 to position the pole 14 strategic tothe tool ring to perform the next operation. Referring to the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5, the next operation is the forming of the flat 92.The flat 92 is provided for the mounting of the cross arm 94. The toolring 50 is rotated as required by the PLC 80 to present the tool forproducing the flat 92 to the proper orientation. The flat 92 isgenerated and the PLC 80 will rotate the tool ring 50 and move thecarriage 30 as required to present a tool for drilling the hole 96strategic to the flat 92. The PLC 80 will then move the carriage 30 toposition the pole in the desired position to drill the hole 98 forattaching the bracing members 100 of the cross arm 94. The PLC 80 thenfeeds the carriage 30 to position the pole 14 for the formation of theflat 102 and rotates the tool ring 50 as required to position thetooling for generating the flat 102. After the flat 102 is generated thePLC 80 moves the carriage 30 and rotates the tool ring 50 as required toposition the drilling tool for drilling the hole 104. The flat 102 isprovided for mounting the cross arm 106. The PLC 80 thus controls themovement of the pole 14 and the rotation of the tool ring 50 to presentthe tools to produce the required formations. The PLC 80 will continueto feed the pole 14 and rotate the tool ring as required to present thetools required to produce the hole 108, the flat 110 and the holes 112.The flat 110 is provided to mount ancillary equipment, such as atransformer 114.

An alternate embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 6. A second tool ring 120arranged to drill multiple small diameter holes 122 in the lower endportion 24 (base) of the pole 14 is provided adjacent the tool ring 50and between the front and rear self centering supports 54, 55. Themultiple small diameter holes 122 drilled in the lower portion 24 of thepole 14 is often referred to as ground line drilling. The holes 122 areprovided to facilitate treating the lower end portion 24 with a woodpreservative. The tool ring 120 is rotatable in the same manner as thetool ring 50, it being rotatable about the axis 52. The tool ring 120 istypically arranged with tooling to drill multiple radial holes 122 intothe lower end portion 24 of the pole 14. The tooling may also bearranged to drill multiple holes 122 that are inclined with respect tothe longitudinal axis of the pole and are arranged in a somewhatparallel order. Other variations are contemplated. The PLC 80 willprogressively move the pole 14 through the tool ring 120 and operate thedrilling tools to drill the desired number of holes 122 at the desiredspacing.

The PLC 80 will position the tools of the tool ring or rings to performthe programmed operations on the pole 14. Not all poles have the sameframing operation, since the requirements of the poles vary depending ontheir intended usage. Some for example may only need a cross arm, whileothers may need more than one cross arm, may need a flat for mountingancillary equipment such as transformers, may require an additional holeor holes drilled for guy wires and the like. The PLC 80 is programmed tocontrol the machine 10 to perform all the operations necessary in theframing of a particular pole. The tool ring 50 preferably also includestooling to identify the pole by attaching a tag or stamping a number orother form of identification.

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that modifications andvariations may be made without departing from the true spirit and scopeof the invention. The invention is therefore not to be limited to theillustrations and descriptions but is to be determined from the appendedclaims.

I claim:
 1. A pole framing apparatus comprising:a motor operatedrotatable tool holder ring, and power actuated tools mounted to thering; a longitudinal feed station for lengthwise feeding of unframedpoles through the tool holder ring; and a programmable controlcontrolling rotation of the ring, feeding of the poles through the ringand actuation of the tools, and a program provided for said programmablecontrol to feed poles in a selected manner through the tool holder ring,to rotate the tool holder ring to selected rotative positions, and tooperate selective ones of said tools for performing framing operationsin accordance with a determined framing pattern.
 2. A pole framingapparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein multiple programs areinterchangeable to perform different framing operations in accordancewith varying desired framing patterns.
 3. A pole framing apparatus asdefined in claim 2 wherein a first centering device is provided adjacentto and preceding said tool holder ring to center the poles in the ringwhereby the axis of the poles substantially coincide with the axis ofthe ring.
 4. A pole framing apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein saidfirst centering device is comprised of opposed centering vee supports,rollers provided on the legs of the vee supports to allow feeding of thepoles as the poles are fed through the vee supports and through thering.
 5. A pole framing apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein a secondcentering device is provided adjacent and following the ring whereby theaxis of the pole is maintained in a position substantially along theaxis of the ring as the pole travels between the two centering devices.6. A pole framing apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein a secondrotatable tool holding ring is provided between said centering devices,multiple drilling tools provided on said second ring, said programmablecontrol controlling said ring and drilling tools for drilling groundline drill holes in the base of the pole.
 7. A pole framing apparatus asdefined in claim 5 wherein said longitudinal feed station includes atrack, a retractable first support positioned over said track precedingsaid first centering device, a motorized second support and pole endclamping member movably entrained on the track, said first and secondsupports cooperatively receiving and supporting a pole to be framed,said supports supporting the pole at the ends thereof and permittingrotation of the pole as may be dictated by gravity action to orient thepole in an upwardly concave position, said pole clamping member adaptedto clamp the pole end and said motorized second support responsive tosaid programmable control to feed the pole along said retractablesupport and into said first centering device, said retractable supportbeing retractable in response to said control whereby the pole iscontinuously fed by said movable support and end clamping member throughsaid centering devices and through said tool holder ring.
 8. A poleframing apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein a primary conveyorconveys unframed poles laterally to said longitudinal feed station, saidprimary conveyor responsive to said programmable control to depositpoles in sequence onto said first and second support of saidlongitudinal feed station.
 9. A pole framing apparatus as defined inclaim 7 wherein a first scanner is positioned relative to the primaryconveyor to verify the length of the unframed poles and verificationthereof to said programmable controls.
 10. A pole framing apparatus asdefined in claim 9 wherein a second scanner is provided relative to thelongitudinal feed station to detect the leading end of the pole beingfed to the ring and to transmit the detection of said leading end to theprogrammable control whereby the exact length and location of the poleis determined.
 11. A pole framing apparatus as defined in claim 7wherein the pole clamping member is rotatable for selectivereorientation of the clamped pole.